


Tumblr Ask Prompts

by TheLastLonelyWriter



Category: Merlin (TV), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Magic, Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Character Death, Childhood Friends, Drabble, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love Confessions, Multi, Pre-Canon, Sad, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28507299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastLonelyWriter/pseuds/TheLastLonelyWriter
Summary: All my ask prompt responses from myTumblr, for easier reading.Each chapter has it's warnings/prompt at the top.
Relationships: Aragorn | Estel & Boromir (Son of Denethor II), Aragorn | Estel/Boromir (Son of Denethor II), Boromir (Son of Denethor II) & Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Celeborn/Galadriel | Artanis, Elyan & Leon (Merlin), Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin), Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Éowyn/Faramir (Son of Denethor II)
Kudos: 17





	1. Phone Number - Merlin & Gwen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - “Once upon a time a really cute person asked me to tell them a story and then gave me their number.”
> 
> Relevant tags - modern era, no magic, fluff

"See you soon,” said Merlin, waving to the last of the toddlers that had come to the local library’s story time. The two girls waved back as their parents led them across the lobby to the checkout desk.

Merlin stretched his legs out and leaned back against the bright orange chair behind him, letting the warm sun from the lobby skylights wash across his face. Beside his knee, a stack of picture books was waiting to be put away, but he didn’t feel like moving just yet.

“If you’re going to pretend that you’re still working story time,” said Gwen, stopping in front of him with her hands on her hips, “then you should at least tell me a story.”

Merlin grinned up at his fellow summer intern as she collected the books. 

“Once upon a time, a really cute person asked me to tell them a story and then gave me their number.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, starting back into the children’s section with the books in hand.

“Save it for your crush of the week.”

Merlin laughed, standing and stuffing his hands in his pockets. At risk of being seen just standing around, he followed Gwen to where she was gently pushing the first book back into it’s place. 

"Come on, I don’t want to lose my gossip partner when fall comes around.”

Gwen handed Merlin the remaining books with a smile. 

“Put these away for me, please? It’s my lunch break,” she said, smiling innocently.

“It’s my lunch break too!” called Merlin, as Gwen wandered away.

“Hurry up then!” came her reply.

Merlin sighed, but picked up the top book and made his way down the row to its proper place. Over the shorter children’s book shelves, he watched Gwen note the time on her intern sheet. She paused to wave at Merlin before slipping out of sight behind the checkout desk.

With a huff of laughter, Merlin crouched down and slid the book into place. As he picked up the next one, a interlibrary loan request slip fluttered to the ground. 

Setting the stack of books down on the carpet, Merlin picked up the slip, ready to pocket it so he could drop it in paper recycle when he clocked out for the morning. But as he fumbled with it, he noticed something written on the back.

Flipping it over, he read the phone number written in neat blue pen. Beneath it was written ‘Gossip buddies forever’ and a smiley face. Merlin rolled his eyes and folded the slip, tucking it in his back pocket. 

A few minutes later, he found Gwen sitting on the grass beside the front steps of the library. Flopping down on his back, he pulled out his phone.

“Proud of yourself?” he asked, entering the number into his contacts.

Gwen smiled happily as she crumpled up an empty granola bar wrapper.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t. Say, did you hear that Elena’s finally admitted to crushing on that girl whose always in to research for her book?”

“You mean Mithian? I think that might make her the last to know.”


	2. Peaceful, Lovely - Faramir/Éowyn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - Soulmates share dreams or daydreams  
> Fair warning, I halved their age gap because I wanted to write about young Éowyn and also because I can.
> 
> Relevant tags - pre-canon, soulmates

“I dreamed about the sea last night,” says Éowyn, sitting down for breakfast.

Éomer stares at her with wide eyes, food paused halfway to his mouth.

“Were you scared?”

Éowyn graces her brother with the biggest eye-roll she can muster on her little nine-year-old face.

“Of course not. I’m not scared of anything.”

“You’ve never seen the sea,” says Théodred, “how do you know that it was the sea you were dreaming of? Perhaps it was only a very large lake, and that’s why you weren’t scared.”

Éowyn’s legs are not yet long enough to reach the ground, but they are just the right length to kick Théodred in the knee. Théodred sullenly scoots his chair away from Éowyn, resolving never to talk to his younger cousins ever again. Éowyn turns back to her meal.

“It was the sea, I’m sure of it.”

Then, with a glance at her still frozen older brother, she adds, “I thought it was rather lovely. Very peaceful.”

A few hours earlier and a good number of miles south, Faramir jolts awake.

The dark of early morning is comforting, but his hand still shakes as he touches the wet trails of tears running down his face. It isn’t until Boromir appears in the doorway, bearing a candle and a worried expression, that Faramir realizes that he had called out.

“Are you alright?” asks Boromir, setting down the candle and sitting next to his brother.

Boromir places one arm across Faramir’s shoulders, and Faramir leans into his touch. Although he is nearly fifteen, he still feels like a child wrapped in his brother’s arms. He takes a shaky breath before answering.

“It was only a dream. I will be fine.”

Boromir frowns, rearranging the blankets so that he can hold Faramir closer.

“What was this dream of?”

“The sea.”

“Only the sea? Why, there’s nothing scary about the sea!”

“I know that,” says Faramir, elbowing Boromir gently in the side. “I don’t know why I was scared. Go back to bed, I’ll be fine.”

“Remember,” says Boromir, standing and smoothing the sheets on Faramir’s bed, “I’ll always come to find you if you’re in danger, no matter how far we’ve traveled.”

“I’ll remember,” whispers Faramir. He settles back into sleep as Boromir slips back into the hallway and closes the door.

“It’s only the sea,” he whispers to himself. “It’s peaceful. Lovely.”


	3. Matchmakers - Percival/Gwaine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - A Perwaine drabble
> 
> Relevant tags - canon era, drabble

“Seems that all our friends have paired themselves off,” said Gwaine, sliding into the seat next to Percival, hidden from the rest of the tavern by the shadows of the corner. 

“No need to play matchmakers tonight,” agreed Percival. 

“Well, there’s always the two of us. We’re not paired off with anyone,” mused Gwaine. He didn’t sound particularly displeased with the idea, more like he was waiting for something. 

“We aren’t?” asked Percival, teasingly. 

Gwaine turned to look at his companion, smiling brightly. 

“Not yet,” he said. “Ready to head home?”

Percival returned his smile. 

“I thought you’d never ask.”


	4. Handsome - Gwaine/Merlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - A Merwaine drabble
> 
> Relevant tags - canon era, fluff, love confessions

“So tell me more about this mystery man who has captured your heart so easily,” said Gwaine. He felt a little like crying right there in the middle of the street. “Do I know him?”

“Don’t tease a love-sick fool,” said Merlin, “and I should hope so.”

He smiled and turned to face Gwaine, who was trying his hardest to think about anything other than how his heart was breaking into a million little pieces. 

“He’s standing right- here!” said Merlin, reaching out and tapping Gwaine on the nose. 

“Oh,” whispered Gwaine, and Merlin laughed. 

“Oh indeed, my handsome knight.”


	5. Drama Club - Percival/Gwaine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - Romantic lead and Stage manager
> 
> Relevant tags - modern era, fluff, idiots in love, high school AU

Agreeing to be stage manager of the drama club was, without a doubt, the worst decision that Percival had made since starting high school two years ago. Well, maybe second. There had been that time with the catapult in science. And the incident with Elyan and the bag of marshmallows. And the time that he and Lancelot had skipped class to help Gwen prep for her solo audition in choir. And that time when-

Well, this was certainly in the top five worst decisions that Percival had made in high school. Definitely in the top ten. 

Now to be honest, be probably should have realized that from the very beginning. But Leon had a way of making everything sound like a fantastic, well-thought-out idea, and Percival had always liked working tech crew for the drama club. So he had readily agreed to take over as stage manager when Leon graduated and now he was regretting it. A lot. 

He liked drama club! He really did! He liked sitting on the edge of the high school stage and singing along to musical soundtracks before rehearsal. He liked late night run-throughs and eating dinner on the floor of the math hallway. And he liked being stage manager! He liked the ability to assign Lancelot to help Gwen run lines. He liked that he was allowed, and encouraged, to tell Vivian to shut up backstage.

He liked it all enough that he was spending all of his spare time in the auditorium, preparing for the upcoming tech week. What he did not like was that Gwaine, the school’s resident heartthrob and the spring musical’s very own Prince Charming, would not leave him alone. 

Because Percival had an unfortunate habit of getting crushes on people like Gwaine.

“Hiya Percy,” said Gwaine, suddenly appearing at Percival’s side in the crowded english hallway. “How’s tech crew work going?”

“Fine,” said Percival, smiling brightly in spite of himself. “We’ve nearly got enough people to cover everything. A bit of a scramble to get someone trained for soundboard with Gwen acting this year, but we’ll manage.”

“Hope you find someone good, because I think we’ve finally won Gwen over to the cast side once and for all!” declared Gwaine, with a laugh.

“Whatever you want to believe,” said Percival, as Gwaine turned down another hallway, “But once tech crew, always tech crew!”

Percival was still smiling when he sat down in his english class. Gwen had to wave her hand in front of his face before he noticed that she had joined him. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” she asked.

“Gwaine and I were just talking about you,” said Percival, hoping she would let him dodge the subject. 

“What were you saying?”

“We were just talking about how he’d madly in love with you,” joked Percival, over the sound of the bell. 

Gwen laughed. 

“I’m not sure he’s really looking for a Cinderella.”

“What do you mean?” asked Percival, digging through the various binders in his backpack in search of a pencil. 

“I mean I think he’s after another Prince Charming instead,” said Gwen, taking out her textbook and ignoring the way that Percival blushed and dropped his newly-recovered pencil on the floor. Then, taking pity on him, she added, “What were you guys really talking about anyways?”

The teacher started talking, handing out worksheets. Once she had passed by the two, Percival scribbled his answer on the back page of his notebook and set it on Gwen’s desk. 

We were complaining about your inability to pick a side.

Gwen rolled her eyes and passed her answer back. 

I’m sorry, but cast and crew are both so much fun. It’s like making me pick between kittens and puppies! 

Fair enough, scribbled Percival, handing the notebook back. 

“Percival, Guinevere, you had better not be passing notes,” said their teacher, suddenly. 

Gwen smiled brightly at their teacher. 

“Our notebooks got switched when we were working together in study hall yesterday. Percy was just returning mine.”

Smoothly, she picked up both of the notebooks on her desk and switched them so that she could hand Percival’s notebook back to him. The teacher frowned, but let it go. 

The class continued, and Gwen set about filling out the worksheet. Percival though, seemed a little distracted. Gwen watched with a smile as his eyes flicked down to his backpack, where the cast list was sticking up from his other drama club papers, Gwaine’s name just visible above a lighting cues sheet. 

Gwen slipped her phone from her backpack and into her sweatshirt pocket, blindly opening it to the conversation she’d been having with Merlin before class and typing out a text. 

_Stage One is complete. Commence Stage Two tonight at rehearsal?_

A moment later, when the teacher turned to her desk to start a video, Gwen checked the reply. 

_Can’t we just skip to Stage Five and lock them in the tech closet together?_

Gwen laughed quietly. Percival shot her a confused look, and she laughed again. Shaking his head, Percival turned back to his notes. 

_Stage Two at rehearsal tonight it is._


	6. Promises - Boromir & Faramir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - A Boromir and Faramir drabble
> 
> Relevant tags - canon era, canon compliant, sad, implied character death, drabble

The first time that Boromir made his promise, they were both young. He said it in the spur of the moment, in a few stuttering lines before he left on his first patrol. 

“I’ll always come back to you, no matter how far I go,” he said. And then, as if to soften the sentiment a little, “If you need it.”

Faramir never forgot that exact moment, the chill of the air and the warmth of the citadel's stones and the curl of hair that Boromir kept having to brush out of his mouth so he could keep speaking. 

Boromir made his promise many times, long after they were children- before every battle, every patrol, every parting. But it was always the first time that stuck so firmly in Faramir’s mind. The first, and the last. 

“I will come home, over every mountain and river and divide to be by your side, my brother.”

“Promises are a dangerous thing to make in a war. Don’t be foolish in my name.”

“Don’t worry. You always were the foolish one anyways.”

The first time the brothers parted, they were solemn and scared. The last time they saw each other, they were laughing.


	7. Friendship - Aragorn & Boromir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - A platonic Boromir and Aragorn drabble
> 
> Relevant tags - canon era, canon compliant, drabble

“Hey,” said Boromir, in the soft voice he normally reserved for frightened horses or timid children. “I’ll take first watch. You need rest.”

“As do you,” replied Aragorn. “I’ll wake you for your watch.”

“You won’t and we both know it.”

Aragorn looked at Boromir for a long moment, with a deep sadness in his eyes. Boromir knew he was not talking with the responsibility-free Strider anymore. 

“You are a good soul,” said Aragorn, at last. “I hope one day I might gain your friendship, despite my lineage.” 

Boromir blinked in surprise. 

“What makes you think you have not already?”


	8. Wisdom and Foresight - Galadriel/Celeborn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - A Galadriel and Celeborn drabble
> 
> Relevant tags - pre-canon, drabble, fluff

Celeborn, for all his wisdom, doesn’t realize until it’s already happened. Doesn’t notice how his eyes stray to her’s for years, doesn’t take note of how his heart sings at the thought of her smile. 

And Galadriel, for all her foresight, doesn’t realize either. Doesn’t see the pattern of days when she fusses over her appearance to the days that they see each other, doesn’t understand why she feels like singing whenever their eyes catch. 

For all the wisdom and foresight in the world, they don’t realize they’re in love until suddenly they are- their story is wordless and beautiful.


	9. Undeniably True - Leon & Elyan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - a childhood friends Leon and Elyan drabble
> 
> Relevant tags - pre-canon, fluff, childhood friends, drabble

Leon tends to be right about as much as anyone else- he is often in a position to say ‘I told you so’ but he is never able to guess who it is that Gwen likes, even though Elyan always insists it is obvious. Mostly, he is good with facts.

“I’m going to be a knight.”

Everyone knows that. Elyan doesn’t even look up.

“And I’ll make you the best swords in the land.”

“No.”

Elyan pauses, mildly offended. His swords are fantastic

“No?”

But sometimes, Leon says something that rings undeniably true. 

“You’re going to be a knight too.”


	10. Bleeding Compass - Aragorn/Boromir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt - Compass on your wrist points to your soulmate
> 
> Relevant tags - canon era, canon compliant, soulmates, character death, sad

For as long as he could remember caring, Aragorn’s compass had been faint, just a small, pale grey circle and a shadow of some lines on the inside of his right wrist. It had come at quite a shock when, a few days after arriving in Rivendell, Arwen had pointed out that it was suddenly clear.

“Oh!” she had said during breakfast one morning, “Your compass has darkened!”

They’d spent several minutes inspecting it, with Arwen holding Aragorn’s arm still so that they could watch the needle slowly shift from north to northeast and then back to north. Ever since that morning, Aragorn had been checking it ever spare second he had. 

It was now a dark grey, and small enough that he could cover it in entirety with his thumb. The swinging of the needle was a smooth motion, like a shadow passing over his skin. It had always pointed vaguely south, but now it shifted often, pointing to someone wandering all about Rivendell.

Arwen would sit beside him in the courtyards or at meals, tracing the point of the needle with her eyes until she found a suitable candidate. Then she would nudge Aragorn and wait for his ready excuse.

“You’ve got to find them eventually,” she complained, after he told her for the fourth time that he wasn’t interested in asking around. 

“I’ll find them naturally, thank you very much,” he said. “Now, let’s talk about your soulmate-”

Arwen rolled her eyes and brushed past him down the hall. 

“You’ll wish you had taken my help one day!”

Aragorn almost wished he had taken her advice when the newly appointed Fellowship of the Ring set out on their journey, but to his surprise, the mark didn’t fade. In fact, he almost wanted to say that it had darkened. 

Chalking it up to exhaustion and disappointment, Aragorn simply pulled his sleeves down farther and went back to ignoring it. Only once or twice did he falter in his steady refusal to acknowledge it, during long night watches when the moon made the steady needle seem to glow. On nights when he found his fingers tracing the mark, he wrapped it tightly in bandages and didn’t answer his friends’ questioning looks.

During their stay in Lothlórien, he didn’t once check it. Their quest seemed much more important now, and he felt selfish for having spent so much time obsessing over the tiny mark. When they departed down the river, he left it uncovered, having forgotten to bandage it the night before. 

It drifted farther and farther from his thoughts as they continued down the river. Only during the darkest, quietest nights did it return. Those nights he would awake with his wrist clutched to his chest and tears drying on his face. But during the day, he successfully blocked all traces of it from his mind.

That was, until mid-battle, Fellowship scattered throughout the woods in their search for Frodo. As Aragorn stumbled into a lull in the fighting, he was struck by a sudden need to check the compass, knocking the air from his lungs. 

Pulling back his sleeve, he stared for a moment at the grey needle, pointing steadily to the west.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by the loud call of Boromir’s horn, echoing through the woods. In a panic, Aragorn ran towards the sound faster than he’d ever run before. 

He was too late. 

For the first time since they had left Rivendell, Aragorn finally broke and well and truly cried. He had shed tears after Gandalf’s death, but it seemed like nothing compared to this. 

He found that he couldn’t move his body, couldn’t bring himself to move away from where he knelt, still cradling Boromir’s head in his arms. He shook with heavy sobs, all thoughts of his compass driven from his head. Days later, when he finally thought to look at his wrist, he almost broke again. 

The black marks that had always been so precise, so clear, were smudged from his tears. His compass was washing away.

His soulmate was dead.


End file.
